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A Plague on (my) House

This week, starting tomorrow, I’ll be teaching Romeo + Juliet, the modern film version with Leo Decaprio and Claire Danes. The most memorable and excellent character from this production is Mercutio, played by Harold Perrineau, who really, really gets it when he is cursing Romeo and Tybalt, casting a “plague on both their houses.”

I think this is interesting timing because, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that I had been similarly cursed. In the past two months, I’ve had a flu-like illness, followed up by either the worse bronchitis of my life or walking pneumonia. Now, I have a red, itchy and uncomfortable rash on my face and neck, which has been so un-helpfully diagnosed by an Urgent Care doc, who didn’t even talk to me before prescribing medication (steroid shot, oral prednisone) as contact dermatitis. Since I haven’t changed soaps and I don’t wear makeup, I’m not sure what I “contacted” that only touched my face. And, so far, I’m not any better than I was on Saturday when I went to the doctor in the first place. My derm’s office said to give the steroids a few more days.

And, today, I came home to find my sweet little dog with disgusting bloody diarrhea, again from unknown causes, that I have to treat with pepto bismal and denying food and water.

I realize NONE of these are a big deal, and that I should be thankful that these are all, in the grand scheme of things, at the most, minor inconveniences, but damn, I just feel beleaguered today.